Pink is the colour of the day as children hear anti-bullying message

Ben Gunton said there were days last year when he dreaded going to school.

For whatever reason, the 11-year-old found himself in the crosshairs of a bully, who would target him for teasing and roughhousing in the halls and schoolyard.

“Well, he just didn’t like me, I guess, and he’d make fun of me and stuff,” said Bunton, now a Grade 6 student. “I didn’t really want to go to school.”

After trying to ignore the bullying for some time, Bunton said he brought the issue to his teacher’s attention. The issue was dealt with and that student no longer goes to the school, he said.

Bunton was one of a handful of students Wednesday who took part in a Pink Shirt Day celebration at the school, promoting anti-bullying awareness.

He had one message for would-be-bullies.

“It’s not cool, don’t do it,” he said.

Pink Shirt Day was inspired by a Grade 9 boy who wore a pink shirt at his Nova Scotia school and faced a torrent of bullying and teasing. Senior students at his school responded by uniting in a sea of pink, an act that sparked the national anti-bullying campaign celebrated in schools across Canada.

“Pink Shirt Day is very important in terms of bringing (bullying) to the forefront for children,” Queen Mary principal Susan Matthews said. “We stress this everyday working with the kids…learning to respect other people. This just brings it all together and the kids get to be reminded as a full group what it’s exactly about.”

City police constables John MacLeod and Keith Calderwood spoke to the pink-clad student body Wednesday, encouraging children to stand-up to bullying by bringing it to the attention of teachers.

“Bullying is not a part of growing up. You don’t have to put up with it. You need to speak out. Don’t be afraid to come forward,” MacLeod said.

“You guys don’t need to be best friends with someone, but if you don’t like someone, you don’t put them down. You respect one another,” Calderwood said.

Eliminating bullying completely isn’t possible, Matthews conceded. But techniques such as restorative circles, which bring bullies and victims together, do help mitigate it, she said.

“We use a lot of restorative justice questions with the children, so we get them to look at what it feels like from the other side…and determine if that’s the way they think other people want to be feeling,” Matthews said. “We also make them make it right. That’s a really important part. They can’t just have that discussion and walk away. They have to make it right and learn how to not have it happen again.”

As a police officer, Calderwood said he sees bullying in all age groups, from toddlers to seniors. But if you can reach children at the right age with the right message, they can carry that into young adulthood and beyond, he said.

“If you can picture two kids in the sandbox…and the bigger kid gets the toy…that’s bullying,” he said. “It happens in school. It happens in the workplace and it happens in seniors homes. If we can get this message out to kids younger to treat people the way they would like to be treated and treat people with respect, hopefully that will carry along with them their whole life.”

Members of the student council prepare to put on a skit during Pink Shirt Day on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 to raise awareness for anti-bullying at Queen Mary Public School in Peterborough. Over 200 schoolchildren along with city police participated in the program. Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner/QMI AGENCY

Schoolchildren in Grades 1/2 dance up a storm as they raise awareness for a dance-a-thon to raise awareness for anti-bullying on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 at Prince of Wales Public School in Peterborough. all proceeds from the fundraiser support the school's nutrition program and other resources. Clifford Skarstedt/Peterborough Examiner/QMI AGENCY